Commissioned at Chatham for the 5th DF, Home Fleet. Fitted as minelayer

Beam:

16.07.1935

Silver Jubilee Review at Spithead

Draught:

20.05.1937

Coronation Review at Spithead

Speed

35.5 knots

1939

7th DF, Home Fleet

Completed:

Dec 1939

20th DF

Laid
Down:

05.06.1940

Dunkirk evacuation

Launched:

Swan Hunter 1936

01.09.1940

Bow blown off by mine off Texel and repaired at Hull

Armament:

Four
4.7 inch guns

Eight
0.5 inch anti-aircraft guns in fours

Eight
21 inch torpedo tubes in fours

Sept 1941
25.10.1941
10.12.1941
1942
Jun 1943

06.03.1944
Jun 1944
1945
1946
1947
1956

Re-entered service
Sailed from Greenock escorting the 'Prince of Wales' to Singapore
Rescued survivors of the 'Repulse' and 'Prince of Wales' off Malaya
Indian Ocean
Transferred to the Royal Canadian Navy as 'Gatineau' for Atlantic Convoy escort duties
Helped to sink U-744
Escort Group 11 for invasion duties
Returned to Canadian waters
In reserve at Esquimalt
Used as a breakwater in Oyster Bay, Puget Sound
Hulk broken up at Vancouver

Builders:

Machinery:

Complement:

145

Commissions
(RN):

Express was
converted to
be used as a minelayer before the outbreak of WW2.

When used for this
purpose two of the four guns had to be removed and all torpedo tubes
taken off to allow for the additional weight of the mines. Mines ran on
rails fixed to the deck on both sides of the ship, extending to the
stern, from where they were dropped.

HMS Express took part in
the King's Review of the Fleet at Weymouth in August 1939.

On September 3rd 1939, mines
were loaded in Portsmouth and laid that night. From then on various
minelaying trips were made with offensive operations taking place during
periods when there was no moon. At other times protective fields were
laid around the coast. Express was also used for convoy duties in the
Atlantic and to escort troop carrying ships bound for France as part of
the British Forces. One special duty was in September 1939 to take the
Duke and Duchess of Windsor from Portsmouth to Cherbourg.

Dunkirk:

In June/July
1940, HMS Express made a number
of trips to Dunkirk and was one of the first to arrive and commence
taking troops off the beaches. At first there were not many troops on
the beach, but numbers soon grew and they were subject to continual
attack by enemy aircraft. Taking troops off from a shelving beach could
only be down in small boats, although there had been an attempt to make
a pier by driving lorries into the sea for the troops to walk out on.
Later troops were taken off from Dunkirk Harbour.

The Express and Shikar
were the last ships to leave with troops, before the evacuation was
ended. The Express brought out 2,795 troops, including some French. Many
ships were sunk or damaged during the evacuation. The Express was
damaged by bombing, but was repaired in time to continue taking part in
the evacuation.

On August 31st 1940, the
Express and 4 other Minelaying Destroyers left Immingham to lay an
offensive field off the coast of the Netherlands. At around 23.00 hours
almost to the point of dropping mines, it was reported by radio that
there was an enemy convoy near at hand, which was to be attacked after
the mines had been dropped. Before any mines were dropped, three of the
ships, including Express, had themselves struck mines. Express was the
first and some of the crew were picked up by the Ivanhoe, who then also
struck a mine. Meanwhile the Esk struck and sank almost immediately.
There was a considerable loss of life in all three ships, the Express
lost 4 officers and 55 ratings.

In spite of having most
of the bows blown off, the Express was towed back to port and eventually
rebuilt. The Ivanhoe could not be saved and had to be sunk.

The Express came back
into service as a Fleet Destroyer in September 1941 and was part of the
escort of the Prince of Wales and Repulse when they were sunk off the
coast of Malaysia and rescued 1000 survivors from Prince of Wales on
10th December 1941.

In 1943 she was
transferred to the Canadian Navy and was renamed the Gatineau serving
with distinction in the Atlantic. She was finally broken up in 1955.

We would like to
thank Vic Evans who compiled the above text and who served on board
Express from July 1939 until she was mined. He was one of the crew of
the Express picked up by the Ivanhoe and was injured when it struck.
Later he was picked up by an MTB and taken to Great Yarmouth Hospital.

Destroyer
HMCS
Gatineau

HMCS
Gatineau

H61 ex HMS
Express, Fleet Destroyer

3rd June
1943

Commissioned
in Royal Canadian Navy. Complement: 225 officers and men.

10th January
1946

Paid Off

6th March
1944

Assisted in
the sinking of U-744

EG11 for
D-Day Operations.

More
information about the life of HMS Gatineau in the RCN on this website